Yes, you need a passport for Costa Rica, and if you hold a US passport, Costa Rica's immigration office says it needs to be valid for at least 1 day. You can stay up to 180 days. The 6 month rule you may have read about is for other countries. We read the immigration office's page and its visa directive on 12 October 2026. We could not read the bus fare tables, so this page is strong on entry rules and short on prices.
The entry rules
Note: Costa Rica asks every foreign visitor for: a valid machine-readable passport, a visa if your country needs one, proof of funds of at least US$100 for each month or part of a month of authorised stay, a ticket back to your country or on to another, and no bar to entry (Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, visa page, updated 23 Sep 2026, read 12 Oct 2026)
Note: The United States is in the first group in the Directrices Generales de Visas, in force from the Official Gazette of 17 November 2025. First group: entry without a visa, a stay of up to 180 calendar days that cannot be extended, and a passport with "vigencia mínima de un día", a minimum validity of one day. The stay cannot be longer than the passport's validity (the directive, read 12 Oct 2026)
An extension exists only if you get fewer than 90 days. Then you can ask for up to 90 days in total. The officer sets the number of days when you arrive, so check the stamp.
| Detail | One source says | Another says | What we use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passport validity | Immigration page: 1 day for group 1, 90 days for group 2, 180 days for groups 3 and 4 | A common claim of six months for everyone, which is not on an official page we read | Group 1, so at least 1 day |
| Which group the US is in | The directive's list of group 1 includes the United States | Not stated on the visa page | Group 1 |
| US Embassy pages | The pages we found are 2021 COVID alerts | None current on entry | We do not use them |
The six months is the rule for groups 3 and 4 on the official page, and not for US citizens. Your airline may run its own check before you board, so read its passport rule for Costa Rica as well.
If you live in the US but are not a US citizen
Costa Rica sorts every passport into one of four groups in its visa directive. India, the Philippines and China are in different groups, so the answer is different for each. We read the directive in La Gaceta, Alcance 148 to La Gaceta 216, 17 November 2025, on the Imprenta Nacional site. It is in Spanish.
Note: Group 2, no visa: the directive lists Filipinas. The stay is up to 30 calendar days, extendable to a total of 90, and the passport must be valid for 90 days (La Gaceta, Alcance 148, 17 Nov 2025, read 12 Oct 2026)
Note: Group 3, consular visa: the directive lists India and "República Popular China*". A group 3 visa is for one entry, the passport must be valid for 180 days, and the stay is up to 30 days, extendable to 90 (same directive)
Note: The exception: nationals of countries that need a consular or restricted visa can skip it if they hold a US or Canadian visa or residence "que permitan múltiples ingresos en cualquier categoría", valid for at least 1 calendar day counted from the day they enter Costa Rica. The stay cannot be longer than the validity of that visa or residence. US C1, C2 and C3 visas are not accepted, because they are transit visas. The D and C1/D crew visas are accepted (same directive, section Quinto)
| Passport | Group in the directive | Without a US visa or US residence | With a US visa or US residence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philippines | Group 2 | No visa. Up to 30 days, extendable to 90. Passport valid 90 days | You do not need it, because Filipinos need no visa |
| India | Group 3 | Costa Rican consular visa, one entry. Passport valid 180 days | No Costa Rican visa if the US visa or residence allows multiple entries and has at least 1 day left. Stay limited by its validity |
| China | Group 3, with special rules | Costa Rican consular visa, one entry. Passport valid 180 days | Same exception as India. The directive says it also applies to Chinese minors |
Other rules in the same directive:
-
Chinese passport holders. Adults with a passport issued in Beijing or Shanghai can enter as tourists under the "Protocolo Temporal para la promoción de Turismo de China". The stay is the length of the tour and no more than 30 days, with no change of category. Visa requests for Chinese minors go to the Restricted Visas Commission. Holders of a Chinese public affairs passport need no visa.
-
Indian passport holders changing planes. The directive lists India among the nationalities that need an airport transit visa to change aircraft in Costa Rica.
-
Every traveler. A valid machine-readable passport, proof of funds of at least US$100 for each month or part of a month of stay, a ticket out or onward, and no bar to entry.
-
Foreign documents must be real ones. The directive says visas and residences must show ICAO security features. It does not accept stamps, handwritten papers, residences still in process, extensions of residences, residences stamped in the passport, "residencias indefinidas" or altered documents.
Not confirmed: whether a US green card counts as a "residencia" under this exception. The directive does not say "green card", and it does not define "residencias indefinidas". The directive's text on US residences does not name a card type. Ask a Costa Rican consulate before you rely on a green card. We could not open the immigration office's own visa page (migracion.go.cr) because it sits behind a security check, so we used the Gazette text only.
The bus
Getting there: Transmonteverde sells tickets on its own site for routes among Monteverde, San José and Puntarenas. Tickets go on sale up to a month ahead, children from 3 years need a ticket, and the seat is the one assigned when you buy. Changes are possible at the boarding office at least an hour before departure. No refunds except when the company cannot run the bus (Transmonteverde terms and conditions, read 12 Oct 2026)
Address: Transmonteverde offices: San José, 450 m north of Parque de la Merced, tel. 2519-9950. Santa Elena, Monteverde, Plaza Monteverde, local 42, tel. 2645-7447. Open Monday to Saturday, 7:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 16:00 (same page)
The same page says its fares are the ones ARESEP sets for each route, and it adds a service charge for online sales. It lists no timetable on the page. Times show only when you search a date in its booking tool, which we did not use.
What a bus costs
Price: ARESEP raised all bus fares by 5.43% in a decision published on 21 May 2026, after fuel prices rose. Its example: Ciudad Quesada to La Fortuna, route 234, from 1,615 to 1,705 colones (ARESEP bulletin 18-2026, read 12 Oct 2026)
Price: From 1 July 2026 all bus fares end in a multiple of 10 colones, because the 5 colon coin left circulation (ARESEP bulletin 25-2026, 26 Jun 2026)
ARESEP's open-data fare table lists San José to La Fortuna on route 214 at 3,920 colones, under a resolution in force from 4 September 2026. Route 234 from Ciudad Quesada is now 1,700 colones (ARESEP open data, read 12 Oct 2026). For San José to Monteverde, use Transmonteverde's price on the day.
We did not check private shuttle vans, which many visitors use between La Fortuna and Monteverde. We also did not check any bus between La Fortuna and Monteverde.
What is checked here and what is not
Checked on 12 October 2026 for the section on non-citizen US residents: the Directrices Generales de Visas as printed in La Gaceta, Alcance 148 to La Gaceta 216 of 17 November 2025 (the group lists, the rules for China and the exception for US visas and residences). We could not open migracion.go.cr for that section.
Checked on 12 October 2026: Costa Rica's immigration office's visa page and its Directrices Generales de Visas of November 2025, Transmonteverde's terms and conditions, ARESEP's bulletins of 21 May and 26 June 2026 and its fare page, and the US Embassy's older alerts.
Not checked: the US State Department's page, any current US Embassy page on entry, bus times, the fare for San José to Monteverde, private shuttles, the bus between La Fortuna and Monteverde, and how often officers ask for proof of funds or an onward ticket. We did not travel by bus for this page.
